Statistical relationships between phonological categories and acoustic‐phonetic properties of Korean consonants

Abstract

The mapping between segmental contrasts and acoustic‐phonetic properties is complex and many‐to‐many. Contrasts are often cued by a multiple acoustic‐phonetic properties, and acoustic‐phonetic properties typically provide information about multiple contrasts. Following the approach of de Jong et al. (2011, JASA 129, 2455), we analyze multiple native speakers’ repeated productions of Korean obstruents using a hierarchical multivariate statistical model of the relationship between multidimensional acoustics and phonological categories. Specifically, we model the mapping between categories and multidimensional acoustic measurements from multiple repetitions of 14 Korean obstruent consonants produced by 20 native speakers (10 male, 10 female) in onset position in monosyllables. The statistical model allows us to analyze distinct within- and between-speaker sources of variability in consonant production, and model comparisons allow us to assess the utility of complexity in the assumed underlying phonological c...